Major British broadcasters such as BT and BBC, have made deals with esports firms during the UK lockdown, while most sports events have halted. BBC has partnered with critically acclaimed games developer Psyonix.
Their agreement was for BBC to show the Rocket League European Spring Series across multiple online platforms, such as the official website, app and BBC iPlayer in May. Rocket League is one of the most popular and exciting esports in the gaming world, guaranteed to attract younger demographics to BBC.
BT is a grupp of pay television sports channels, and they decided to partner with the UK esports business Gfinity. Various sports celebrities hosted the BT Sport FIFA Challenge Series, which ran until June 5th culminating in a Grand Finale.
The collaboration between esports and sports broadcasters allows not only for younger demographics to be attracted to their channels, but also for further esports collaborations in the future with different brands. Esports has had a boom in popularity these past few years, and the Covid-19 lockdown proves that the billion-dollar business can continue to thrive through it.
